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Glottis
Glottis is an Elemental and Manny's sidekick throughout the duration of the game. He is first seen in his hut in the DOD garage. Personality Glottis is orange, 8-feet and 800-pound elemental created to drive (and repair) cars. He serves as much of the comic relief to the game. Numerous humorous elements, like the Bone Wagon, were designed entirely around his obsession with cars. As a result Glottis is portrayed as an effective foil to Calavera. He is blunt, childlike and naive compared to Manny's dry wit. Biography Year 1 Glottis was first found in the Department of Death garage by Manny, while searching for his driver to get to the Poisoning stumbled across his hut. Much to his displeasure, Glottis revealed that Domino Hurley told Manny's original driver he could take the rest of the day off, leaving him unable to get to the poisoning. After some persuading, Glottis eventually agreed to drive Manny to the poisoning in a newly modified company car. Afterwards he later dubbed it "the Bone Wagon" and modified it to become faster than previously possible. Later, Glottis drove Manny to find Mercedes Colomar. When Manny escaped to the Petrified Forest thanks to Salvador Limones, he found Glottis there, having been fired from the DOD for doing modificatinos on a D.O.D. car. To portray his feelings, he mindlessly tore out his heart, which Manny had to recover from a spider-bat. Having modified the Bone Wagon, they reached Rubacava, where he was befriended by Velasco. Year 2 Glottis was Manny's piano player and co-owner of his new club, Calavera Café. Glottis describes his lifestyle as a fairly desirable one, with decent meals and consistent joyrides of his beloved Bone Wagon. Not much is known about the events leading up to the second Day of The Dead, but few things are hinted at, such as a supposed transgression Glottis imposed, landing him in a cold jail cell. Regardless, Glottis remains cheery and perhaps a little naive, as suggested when he seems to genuinely believe that this night is the night "she", Mercedes Colomar, will arrive in Rubacava. Not long after acquiring a High Roller's card for the cat races, Manny shows Glottis his new clearance only for Glottis to swipe the card due to his "problem" which is later discovered to be inebriated cat race gambling. In this state, Glottis is reckless and consumes immense amounts of wine, clouding his judgment enough to offer his co-ownership of the Calavera Café. After Manny sabotages his own Casino, Glottis loses his collateral and is kicked out of the High Rollers Lounge and he confesses to Manny that he is not content with his life in Rubacava, and that he would rather be a mechanic than a pianist. This is much to Manny's delight as he was hoping he could get Glottis to board a ship headed to Puerto Zapato as a mechanic, in pursuit of Meche. Year 3 Glottis has spent the past year as a mechanic on the S.S. Lola (formally the S.S. Limbo) of which Manny has become the captain. The immense amount of free time the voyage has given Glottis allowed him to upgrade many features of the ship, though the source of his spare parts is unknown. As the S.S. Lola drifts into port the entire crew is subject to an ambush set up to kill Manny. Glottis narrowly rescues Manny from his assassins, by pulling him safely into the motor control room. This moment is rather characteristic of Glottis as he bravely rescues his best friend, but within all of his dialog he appears terrified in a rather child-like way. Year 4 After having escaped from the Edge of the World, Glottis joins Manny, Meche, and all the souls held at the plant in their trek to the Gate leading to the Ninth Underworld. Without his joyrides in the Bone Wagon or the fast speeds of the S.S. Lola, Glottis falls deathly ill. The demons stationed at the Gate tell Manny that the only way to revive Glottis is to travel at high speeds, thus restoring his purpose for being summoned. Then, with the last of his strength, Glottis draws the schematics for a rocket-powered train cart on the wall behind him, which Manny and the other demons then construct using the DOD's packing foam and magnesium-compound fire extinguisher foam as fuel. When he suddenly awakens strapped to the sled, Glottis flails about in fright, knocking the sled off the tracks near Rubacava and forcing him, Manny, and Meche to continue their journey to El Marrow in the Bone Wagon. Finally, after arriving in Rubacava, Glottis follows Manny through the labyrinth in the Bone Wagon to provide light in the search for the missing florist. As the game ends, Glottis is seen waving goodbye to his friends as they leave for the Ninth Underworld. Trivia Glottis may in fact be a representation of Xolotl, Quetzalcoatl's twin brother and the Aztec god of fire, lightning, deformities, and death. A large deformed dog like entity said to dart across the underworld like lightning with fire in hand, Xolotl was essentially the Aztec Grim Reaper. A psychopomp who aided the dead through their 4 year travel across the 9 levels of the underworld. Considering Grim Fandango's many references to Aztec religion, Glottis's penchant for speed, role as a transporter for the living to the world of the dead, appearance much akin to a large dog deformed even by his own race's standards, and helpful role to Manny from beginning to end of their 4 year adventure, this unconfirmed connection seems fairly likely. Furthermore, Glottis - being a spirit of the land of the dead and his obsession for driving - is a literal speed demon. Quotes "My roots lie not in any Earthly nation's soil. I am an elemental spirit summoned up from the Land of the Dead itself and given one purpose, one skill, one desire... to drive. Or, to change oil or adjust timing belts if no driving jobs are open." —''To Manny, in the D.O.D. garage'' "Too small, I'm not too big. Everything around here is just too small!" —''To Manny, in the D.O.D. garage'' "Manny, until now we scraped along the ground like rats. But from now on, we soar. Like eagles! Yeah! Like eagles... on pogo sticks!" —''After retrieving pumps to modify the Bone Wagon'' "THAT'S THE SUGAR POPPA LIKES!" —''Drunkenly watching the cat races in the High Rollers Lounge'' "Manny, I don't want to be a pianist anymore. I'm a mechanic!" —''After being kicked out of the High Rollers Lounge'' "Beware, brave Captain! Here in the darkest depths of the Sea of Lament dwell the most horrible monsters of all... The fearsome murky demons of the deep will swallow you whole the instant you leave this pool of light. Heed my warning, or take one step forward and learn for yourself..." —''Warning Manny as he is about to leave the underwater pool of light'' "You're the best boss I ever had." —''Saying farewell to Manny at the entrance to the Ninth Underworld'' Category:Character